WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 12, 2 October 1931, Page 32

WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

Those Unemployed. HAVE too much faith in the British race, writes "Pandora," to believe that the average man or woman likes the dole or enjoys being out of work for weeks and even months. ‘There are always exceptions, those wretched exceptions which are regarded as proving every case. There are, and always have been, loafers and cadgers and the unemployable. But there are countless decent, industrious men and women who long for work and try their best to get work, who dislike eharity in any form, and who view with distress young people growing up without the conviction that one must work -to live, which was formerly a matter of course. Let us discriminate and not close the doors of our sympathy to the deserving poor. The Perverse Sex. RITING in a London paper, Sir Sidney Low says: "Woman, having emancipated her mind, soul and conversation, so that she can do anything, be anything, and say anything she pleases, is now, it appears, delivering her person to the physical thraldom from which it emerged in the present century. If she thinks she looks nicer in bowler hats, flounced skirts, and square-shouldered jackets, or if ber dressmakers and milliners persuade her that she does, it is not for the male of the species to protest. But he may ‘hope that she will abstain from certain adornments. A good many of us still shudder over the remembrances of those stilettos which women once thrust through their locks to keep their out-size hats in place. Nor was a waltz as pleasant as it might have been when your partner was encased in a tightly-laced contraption which made her creak like a wickerwork basket when she moved." But will Hve submit once more to tyranny and discomfort? Corset and bustle are predicted, but nous verrons. The Heart of the British Public. "HE heart of the British public is sound-the British public likes to jJaugh," we are told. Certainly we like to laugh; as a nation we enjoy the best of all laughs-the laugh against ourselves-but that is only a half of our nature. The other half of the "sound heart" wants to be stirred to its depths-to pity-to feel -even intolerably to feel. "There’s a crack somewhere-something that’s unsound i’ the rattle.’-Sybil Thorne. An Appreciation. LOOK forward with interest to the day when a national daily will be edited by a woman, and, I hope, hhave no political leaders at all," Lord Imke declared at a reception given in his home in Portman Square recently to mark the appointment of Miss Anne Hepple as the new editor of the ""Woman’s Magazine," published by the Religious Tract Society. "A generation ago," he continued, "the arrival of the woman journalist was making something of a sensation in Fleet Street, though-perhaps owing to an oversight-the fact was not recorded as such on the evening posters. The male journalist regarded her with a good deal of suspicion. "But she came, and her influence has been profound. She has brought into the magazine pages of our newspapers and the lively columns of our magazines an attention to detail and makeup and technique which was badly needed."

An Economical Era. (QoTron materials are considered ultra ‘chic by the Parisienne this summer. Nearly every woman you see is wearing a trim little linen suit with a broderie anglaise blouse or a frock and jacket to match. Coloured jackets have taken the world by storm and they are being worn everywhere. Bril-

liant colours are much in evidence, emerald green, lipstick red, royal blue, apricot yellow, and white being the most favoured. It is a fashion that has even been adopted for dining out of doors. At the Bagdad, the smartest rendezvous in

Paris, the right jackets look charming, making bright spots of colour under the trees. Black dresses seem to be the most popular choice to wear with these gay little coats, and there can be no doubt that they show them up to the best advantage. Gingham, shantung, linen and pique are the favourite daytime fabrics for jackets, and the tailored line is emphasised in all of them. Hven the simplest single-breasted style is accurately mantailored to the last detail. Star-gazers. HOUGH to-day women are found working at every branch of science, it has been mainly in the realm of astronomy they have hitherto done their most notable work. Following in the footsteps of Mary Somerville and Caroline Herschel, during the nineteenth century a succession of women made their mark either as observers or as writers on astronomy. Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was long the professor of astronomy and director of the observatory at Vassar College in the United States. She was provided by the women of America with a large equatorial, and the observatory at Nantucket, now under the direction of Miss Margaret Harwood, was erected in her honour. Two other American

women, Anna Winlock, who died in \ 1904, and Mrs. Williamina Fleming (1857-1911), were connected with Haryard University. Hspecially important were the writings of Miss Agnes Mary Clerke, who was born in County Cork in 1842 and died in London in 1907. Her sound judgment and her wide acquaintance with astronomical literature made her "History of Astronomy during the 19th Century" a most valuable book of reference. This work first appeared in 1885, and was followed by her "System of the Stars," 1890, and "Problems in Astrophysics," 1903. A Moot Point. tz is wise to be very careful in the choice of one’s lipstick when wearing red. Nothing can be worse than a purple-red lipstick with a yellowred frock. It gives the lips an*ugly purplish tinge against the warm téyie of the frock that is very bad indéed. Be sure always of the base of your red, and match your lipstick to it. Pink powder, it goes without saying, should never be worn with red, though it can be worn with certain shades of blue, but a subtle shade of Rachel, which is nearly a natural colour, with a wash of very pale lavender powder over that, makes an effective combination.. Byes should not be too madeup with red, but a delicate application of eye shadow, with just a touch of eye cosmetic on the lashes, warms and deepens the eyes when wearing any shade of red. Many women believe that they can wear brown, but it really is a trying colour because it makes a pale woman look paler and an olive skin look sal-g" low. A tangerine rouge, a flame lip: stick, a warm ochre powder on a foundation of a natural colour, and a rich brown shadowing the eyes and lengthening the lashes, help any woman. Infinite Variety. WVAISTCOATS are very fashionable this season, and help to provide the essential colour contrast in favour just now. One well-tailored dark suit may be given many different phases by making a selection of these waistcoats in various colours, and giving them little hats to match. These fabric hats are so easy to make if you get a good pattern-and help to bring variety into the small wardrobe. In Favour of Luncheon. . NOTED entertainer once said that the only use of lunch was as a meeting place for the bores impossible to ask to' dinner. She whs brilliantly contradicted by a hostess who long ago decided to specialise in lunches and made such a success of them everyone wished to be invited. 'The many-sided Mrs. Alec Tweedie has in an amusing record called, I think, "My ‘Tablecloth," proved conclusively that, given good talk and good cookery, lunch can be delightful. Mrs. Tweedie, whom I first met at a Woman Writer’s dinner in an amazing parure of pink topaz, the gift of President Diaz during her adventures in Mexico, has the rare + gift of being able to draw people out.’ This, combined with the fine art of selection of guests few and fit, makes her lunches attractive. All entertainments are apt to be too long, which gives lunch a preference to dinner. If we are bored we can go within an hour. If we are happy there may be dalliance over coffee and cigarettes.- « woman,"